An AC comment in the previous story said very much the same thing: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2583644&cid=38441032

Is it really that hard to believe that someone has to come up with far fetched ridiculous reasons like anti trust (anti trust with browsers makes no sense, chrome is never going to become a monopoly on the desktop and with growth in mobile it doesn't matter anyway)?

There is nothing underhanded and Google doesn't need to do anything underhanded. Sure there's some marketing speak in Kasting's post. But the bottomline is this does suit google's own business plan, the web's their space, they're not interested in competing with Mac OS and Windows directly. And they can't rely on IE and Safari being the interface to the web, they want to push them in the direction where Google wants to go and where their strength lies. Mozilla does it just fine because open works in Google's favour.

Who said anything about surgeons, where on earth did you get that from??

If you RTFA you'll see no mention of medical schools. I would hope my surgeon has more experience than having dissected a rat, but that's besides the point.

Thedecision is worrying because it applies to university science students in biology, zoology etc., who should definitely not be squeamish about dissections. However, it has nothing to do with doctors or surgeons or medical schools.

Actually Apple lost, they wanted to ban the import of HTC devices in the U.S., they got a verdict over one software patent that is easily worked around and will not be able to use the patent claims that were rejected against anyone else.

Who said anything about destroy Apple? Some dude called Steve Jobs did say something about destroying Android..

HTC didn't start the war and they are still willing to negotiate and settle the legal issues, hell they even paid off Microsoft's extortion racket, I bet they would even pay Apple for their ridiculous patents.

No I wouldn't, because Apple's 'inventions' are mostly trivial and/or have tonnes of prior art e.g. slide to unlock, multi touch

That's the biggest load of crap I ever read. When the words of patent lawyers and Florian Muller count for everything and those of John Carmack and Linus Torvalds count for nothing, we are truly f##ked. And by we I mean the west, and especially the U.S. because China and the rest of Asia will go on without being encumbered by such stupidity. I have read and tried to understand more than enough of these patents and the words of patent lawyers to know that what you're spreading is pure FUD. You're insulting the intelligence of people on slashdot by trying to tell them that a software patent on a simple algorithm or process is beyond their comprehension because it is clouded in pages of incomprehensible legalese and entirely superfluous details (e.g. describing the inner working of an operating system and the mobile device which have no bearing on the funcitonality described)--that stuff is to fool the morons in the patent office (and the people who approve these patents are morons, I don't care if they are overworked underpaid morons, they're morons) and the courts. It doesn't fool us.

Apple is suing for preliminary injunctions in several countries asking for a ban on the sale of *all* HTC devices. Even if such an injunction lasts a few months in a major market like the U.S., it will simply destroy the company. Even a massive company like Apple sitting on a huge pile of cash would be severely affected by such an injunction, a small company like HTC with comparatively limited resources, and in the fast moving world of mobile technology, will be decimated.

I know I am invoking Godwin's law, but I presume you are unhappy that people do not "heap as much scorn" on the Polish Resistance Movement as they do on Hitler because the former chose to fight back with whatever they could lay their hands on?

If HTC start suing other companies using the same patents they are using against Apple, then you would have a point. But they're not. It is clearly self defence.

Apple get roasted on patent issues on slashdot because anyone with even basic programming knowledge (i.e. almost everyone on slashdot) knows how ridiculous Apple's lawsuits are, and how destructive such patents are for the industry.

HTC ONLY sued Apple in retaliation, Apple were the first to go after every Android manufacturer claiming Android copied their 'inventions'. Apple have never denied that and are completely unapologetic about the fact that they started the war. HTC are NOT doing the same thing. If they were doing the same thing as Apple, HTC would be launching lawsuits against other Android manufacturers like Samsung based on the same patents they are trying to use defensively against Apple, and even against other companies like Nokia, RIM etc.

These are such broad patents that there is no way Google are the only ones infringing, and there is no sound reason to only sue Google. This sounds suspiciously like someone is suing Google through proxy. Unfortunately with all the big media companies having nothing more to say apart from regurgitating whatever Florian Muller puts out, and he is too exultant about Google getting sued again to care about anything else, I don't see much hope of someone digging deeper.

Google, Samsung, HTC, and many others have only used patents in retaliation. Seriously, I am not trolling, I am not making this up. Google for example have registered plenty of patents but have never used them in litigation except the ones they gave to HTC to defend against Apple.

Also,
Forbes article from 13 June:

"Kramer said Digitude has already done a licensing deal with one company and it will do one more before rolling out a program that will include a litigation component."

Apple transferred the patents to a DI shell company on April 26.

Digitude have only done a licensing deal with one company by June and have not started litigating yet.

Apple is that company, there is no other explanation possible.

And DI clearly did not sue Apple first, Apple went to them willingly.

There's absolutely nothing to suggest that that hypothesis is true----the only lawsuits they have filed against any mobile device manufacturer is the one mentioned in TFA, and that uses patents that were owned by Apple until August this year.

and if you RTFA, you have already see:

This announcement is dated April 27, 2011: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/04/prweb5278144.htm

They talk of 'aggressively' licensing stuff in the near future, so they hadn't started litigation at that point.

The day before, on April 26, 2011 Apple transferred the patents to a shell company linked to Digitude who later transferred them to DI: http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&pat=6208879

Clearly, Apple signed a deal with DI in April and arranged for the transfer of their patents. And this was way before they sued anyone, in fact without the Apple patents they don't seem to have anything else worth suing anyone with.

Apple was NOT sued by this patent troll first, they cut a deal with them. And DI's business model means that part of any profits from this lawsuit will flow to Apple - and you can bet anything it won't be a tiny amount.

What is increasingly bizarre is the patents were bought form Mitsubishi. They are not originally Apply patents and have nothing to do with Apple's iPhone/iPad technologies. They are not even part of the 'thermonuclear war' on Android, DI is suing Nokia and RIM as well.

Florian Muller unapologetically pushes his agenda, and makes no attempt to be fair and unbiased. Which wouldn't be an issue if his views weren't so widely aired, because he is a self proclaimed expert who sends his blog entries to hundreds of media outlets and websites.

Some examples of how he bends the truth: http://twitter.com/#!/FLOGSPatents

Apple don't care about infringement damages, and Samsung can afford to pay them. By the time they get a judgement the device would already be obsolete.